diff --git a/.github/workflows/build.yaml b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
index 977fdfd0c..f288ccf29 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/build.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/build.yaml
@@ -19,8 +19,8 @@ jobs:
         include:
           - name: linux-amd64
             cmd: >-
-              make linux-amd64 && make static-test && make check && make
-              ci-lexicons
+              make linux-amd64 && make test-vod && make static-test && make
+              check && make ci-lexicons
           - name: linux-arm64
             cmd: "make linux-arm64"
           - name: windows-amd64
diff --git a/.gitlab-ci.yml b/.gitlab-ci.yml
index 62e5ae62a..87db46a4c 100644
--- a/.gitlab-ci.yml
+++ b/.gitlab-ci.yml
@@ -71,7 +71,7 @@ builder-rebuild:
   script:
     - rm -rf /usr/x86_64-w64-mingw32/include/d3dcompiler.h /usr/share/mingw-w64/include/d3dcompiler.h /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/10-posix/libssp.dll.a /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/10-posix/libssp-0.dll /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/10-win32/libssp-0.dll /usr/lib/gcc/x86_64-w64-mingw32/10-win32/libssp.dll.a
     - git fetch --unshallow || echo 'already unshallow'
-    - bash -c "make version && make $TARGET && make desktop-$TARGET && make pkg-$TARGET && make ci-upload-node-$TARGET -j$(nproc)"
+    - bash -c "make version && make $TARGET && make test-vod && make desktop-$TARGET && make pkg-$TARGET && make ci-upload-node-$TARGET -j$(nproc)"
   artifacts:
     reports:
       dotenv: .ci/build.env
diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index a4fce7feb..b8d0e4b2e 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -272,6 +272,14 @@ static-test:
 	&& PKG_CONFIG_PATH=$(shell realpath $(BUILDDIR)/meson-uninstalled) \
 	bash -euo pipefail -c "go test -p 1 -timeout 300s ./pkg/... -v | tee /dev/stderr | go-junit-report -out test.xml"
 
+# Run `streamplace vod-test` against a known set of fixture VODs using
+# the static binary at ./build-linux-amd64/streamplace. Skips cleanly
+# on cross-compiled targets where the amd64 binary can't run on the
+# build host. Driven by hack/test-vod.sh.
+.PHONY: test-vod
+test-vod:
+	bash hack/test-vod.sh
+
 #   _____  ________      __
 #  |  __ \|  ____\ \    / /
 #  | |  | | |__   \ \  / /
diff --git a/hack/test-vod.sh b/hack/test-vod.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..1863826a6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/hack/test-vod.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+set -euo pipefail
+
+# Smoke test: run `streamplace vod-test` against a list of fixture VODs
+# using a built static binary. Used in CI right after `make linux-amd64`
+# to catch crashes (gstreamer plugin bugs, codec mishandling, etc.)
+# that the Go test suite can miss when it isn't actually linking against
+# the static gstreamer-full plugin set.
+#
+# Each fixture is "<sha256>/<filename>", matching the layout used by
+# pkg/test/remote/RemoteFixture. Files are cached at
+# ~/.streamplace-test-cache/<hash>/<filename>, same as the Go helper.
+#
+# Skips cleanly if the binary isn't present — we only run on the
+# linux-amd64 build host; other targets cross-compile and can't
+# execute the produced binary.
+
+BIN="${1:-./build-linux-amd64/streamplace}"
+CACHE_DIR="${HOME}/.streamplace-test-cache"
+FIXTURE_URL="https://storage.googleapis.com/streamplace-fixtures"
+
+FIXTURES=(
+	"8d03302f5fcf2b5e13e2be48af5340dbd28b2d77ac1875a693c52adff45438c4/THE-FINALS-2026-05-16-7-44-18-PM.h264.tiny.10s.mp4"
+	"eb34493396ec3606e3f6d5543c7f695b6ec4b8959c083ffbd04623ea16ed9598/RocketLeague_30s_1sGOP-1080p60_NoBframes.mp4"
+)
+
+if [ ! -x "$BIN" ]; then
+	echo "test-vod: $BIN not found, skipping (cross-compiled target?)"
+	exit 0
+fi
+
+mkdir -p "$CACHE_DIR"
+
+for fixture in "${FIXTURES[@]}"; do
+	hash="${fixture%%/*}"
+	filename="${fixture#*/}"
+	target_dir="$CACHE_DIR/$hash"
+	target_path="$target_dir/$filename"
+
+	if [ ! -f "$target_path" ]; then
+		echo "=== test-vod: downloading $filename ==="
+		mkdir -p "$target_dir"
+		tmp_path="$target_path.download"
+		curl -fsSL "$FIXTURE_URL/$fixture" -o "$tmp_path"
+		actual_hash=$(sha256sum "$tmp_path" | awk '{print $1}')
+		if [ "$actual_hash" != "$hash" ]; then
+			rm -f "$tmp_path"
+			echo "test-vod: hash mismatch for $filename: expected $hash got $actual_hash" >&2
+			exit 1
+		fi
+		mv "$tmp_path" "$target_path"
+	fi
+
+	echo "=== test-vod: $filename ==="
+	"$BIN" vod-test "$target_path"
+done
+
+echo "test-vod: all fixtures passed"
diff --git a/pkg/media/vod_pipeline_test.go b/pkg/media/vod_pipeline_test.go
index dba517708..fb7979980 100644
--- a/pkg/media/vod_pipeline_test.go
+++ b/pkg/media/vod_pipeline_test.go
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ func TestRunVODPipeline_h264AAC_TheFinals(t *testing.T) {
 	defer cancel()
 	ctx = log.WithLogValues(ctx, "test", "TestRunVODPipeline_h264AAC_TheFinals")
 
-	fixture, err := os.ReadFile(remote.RemoteFixture("fc0911e573e846532982a8069bbf1829b73818dd08e536f48039eed8cfab454e/THE-FINALS-2026-05-16-7-44-18-PM.h264.tiny.mp4"))
+	fixture, err := os.ReadFile(remote.RemoteFixture("8d03302f5fcf2b5e13e2be48af5340dbd28b2d77ac1875a693c52adff45438c4/THE-FINALS-2026-05-16-7-44-18-PM.h264.tiny.10s.mp4"))
 	require.NoError(t, err)
 
 	out := &bytes.Buffer{}